Submitted by crinadmin on
Summary: General overview of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's national legal provisions on children's rights, including guidance on how to conduct further research.
National laws on children's rights Status of the CRC in national law Constitution: Title II of the Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2005 contains a large number of rights provisions that apply to children as to other citizens, but also contains a small number of provisions that make explicit reference to the rights of children: In addition, Chapter II of Title IV distributes competencies between the the provinces and the central authority: Legislation: Congolese legislation exists in a variety of forms, and it should be noted that customary law plays a particularly important role in many cases and can cause significant variation in the content of the law across the country. On the national level, ordinary and organic laws are the primary means of legislation, and a number of legislative acts have particular importance to children's rights including, but by no means limited to: Legal Research: Case Law Case Law Research Compliance with the CRC In depth analysis A number of aspects of the juvenile justice system were also highlighted in the 2009 Observations of the Committee. Specifically, while the Committee noted that the minimum age of criminal responsibility is set at 14 years, it remained concerned that the Code had not been sufficiently implemented, and that children under this age were subject to criminal trials. The Committee also noted that children between the ages of 16 and 18 may not receive any special protection measures. Furthermore, the Committee highlighted the absence of a separate and specialised juvenile justice system, the prevalent use of lengthy pre-trial detention for juveniles and the detention of juveniles with adults. The Committee also expressed its utmost concern at the involvement of children in armed conflict. Accordingly, the Committee made recommendations on combating impunity surrounding those involved in recruiting children for the purposes of armed conflict, and ensuring that child victims of this practice are not criminalised. Current legal reform projects
Article 215 of the Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo provides that all duly concluded treaties and agreements, including the Covention on the Rights of the Child, shall upon publication take precedence over national legislation. Among other things, this means that the CRC can be and has been directly applied in national courts.
The website of the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo provides limited legal information (http://www.presidentrdc.cd/accueil.html) but does include the Constitution in French (http://www.presidentrdc.cd/constitution.html). ConstitutionNet provides the Constitution in English (http://www.constitutionnet.org/vl/constitution-democratic-republic-congo). Droit Congolais publishes a selection of Congolese legislation (http://www.droitcongolais.info/etudes_generales.html), and the International Labour Organisation's NATLEX database provides links to selected legislation (http://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/natlex_browse.country?p_lang=en&p_country=COD). In addition, the GlobaLex project at New York University has published a guide to legal research in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (http://www.nyulawglobal.org/Globalex/Democratic_Republic_Congo1.htm), and the U.S. Law Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov/law/help/guide/nations/congodr.php) and the World Legal Information Institute (http://www.austlii.edu.au/catalog/2807.html) both offer a selection of relevant government and legal research links.
CRC Jurisprudence
Please contact CRIN if you are aware of any cases in national courts that reference the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The Droit Congolais website offers limited case law resources in French (http://www.droitcongolais.info/etudes_generales.html).
The Committee on the Rights of the Child has welcomed a number of legislative reforms in the area of children's rights, particularly the Child Protection Code of 2009. However, the Committee has noted that "enacted laws are not always followed by the issuance of appropriate decrees for implementation, that law enforcement mechanisms are weak and that no activities have been carried out to raise awareness of these laws which are, consequently, not applied or implemented". The Committee has also been critical of the existence of conflicting laws, a phenomenon caused by the failure to repeal old laws when new laws are adopted.
A large proportion of the negative aspects of the 2009 Concluding Observations of the Committee the Rights of the Child with respect to the Democratic Republic of the Congo related to violence and sexual violence against children. The Committee noted the Child Protection Code contains a limited definition of torture that does not cover the full range of treatment included within the Convention against Torture. Corporal punishment has been prohibited in schools, but remained lawful in the home and alternative care settings as of 2009. The Committee also noted the high prevalence of sexual violence against children and recommended that the State legislate to ensure that all forms of violence against children are explicitly prohibited in national law, and that these laws are properly implemented.
At the time of the 2009 report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Child Protection Code foresaw the implementation of a specialised juvenile justice system within two years. The Committee is yet to examine what progress has been made in this regard.